


Existence

by GypsyMoon



Category: Batman (Movies - Nolan), Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Genre: Breaking and Entering, Crime Fighting, Deception, F/M, Healing, Italy, Masks, Post-The Dark Knight Rises, Romance, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-01
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2017-12-28 03:48:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/987309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GypsyMoon/pseuds/GypsyMoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Normalcy is for suckers that can’t live up to their dreams; pearls are promises that can easily be broken and rings are for commitment that a man and woman both share in darkness and in the light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

 

**All characters rightfully belong to Christopher Nolan and DC Comics**

**I do not own any of these characters**

 

It began under the winter sky of early morning; airy snow was falling down as the cheers of a relived city echoed in the distance. A disobedient heart was silently breaking underneath protective layers. Selina Kyle felt her lithe body become stone-cold rigid as she stood on the shoreline motionless, and silent. She allowed the glimmers of sunlight become captured in her dark eyes, feeling the tears escape from her gray shaded soul.

Narrowing her eyes, Selina lifted her gloved hand into the snowy wisps in the air, and she intently watched the white clusters of water and ice dissolve into the leather.

Long strands of disheveled mahogany twirled to the rhythmic flow of the frosty wind, Selina tried to avert her gaze from the horizon but inside the constant ache in her heart pressed her to stare at the brilliance of the dawn, watching it rise against the slate ashen clouds.

Stripping off her mask in that moment, Selina prepared to toss the semblance of the cat the icy waters that held the remainders of his mortality. She clutched her fingers over the strap of her goggles, and moved with slow paces against the shoreline.

The discomfort of losing him within those seconds of chemical fire lighting up the sky pierce right through her body.

She forced her brown eyes to gaze at the directions, right, left and north, and south. A simple to choice to make for an efficient society grifter ready to start fresh beyond the shorelines of Gotham City. To become a ghost, a darkening shadow of a memory that was once deemed the city as her hunting grounds.

An overwhelming sense tugged against her heart strings, a familiar rush anticipation skimmed through her clotted thoughts.

Selina slowly turned atop her stilettos and then stared at the concrete pipes of sewer drainage system gushing out murky water underneath the dock boards.

With feline grace, Selina regained her inner strength and pulled on her mask under her ghostly pale skin. She raced to the area, heels dug into the rocky sand as he legs hesitated against the traction. She sauntered underneath the dock, and quickly popped the grated metal cover off, tossing it into the icy pieces crushing against the cement. She melted into the darkness of the drainage pipe and pressed herself further. Then she reached a narrow space that led her inside a tunnel.

Darkness cloaked over her slender body, Selina instantly slid off a metal pipe and winced slightly as her heels smacked on a slab of concrete. Her sharp brown eyes scanned the enclosed chamber while shivers dance along the ridges of spine. The lurking memories of her betray stabbed against her pounding heart.

Two things crossed her mind within those seconds, first Selina felt a looming presence brush past her, and second she felt a pair of eyes watching her every twist of elusive movement.

Cautiously, Selina took a step back when an alarming chill swept over her as a faint groan pierced through the shadows.

Instantly her hyper aware senses told her that it could be a trap, Bane's army of renegade mercenaries were still mobilizing in the tunnels. She had to show no weakness, it was her only key to survival. With quick reaction to the stealthy footballs, she removed her pistol from her belt's hostler and aimed it a massive shadow, a shaky finger was curled on the trigger. She clenched her jaw and prepared to take a clean shot.

With the chill of the air rushing over her firm lips, Selina took a few steps forward, dark eyes shifting to every fragment of shadow, heels sloshed into the murky puddles when she approached gingerly to her unknown threat.

"Miss Kyle," A breathless, deep voice, made the beat of her heart cease within those moments of hearing her name erupt from the darkness. Her concealed eyes widened and every fiber of her body tensed as breath of her lungs struggled to be released from her throat. She felt a comforting warmth clamp over her mouth as the sounds of his raspy breathing made her stomach whirl with foreign emotion. It couldn't be him.

Selina mentally counted to three, and slowly turned her heel as she felt her heart beating wildly against the walls of her chest. When she turned fully her doubting heart knew either one or two things were the realistic truth-either she was trapped in some form of twisted dream, or Bruce Wayne was the greatest escape artist in the world.

He inches away from her, the weight of his battered body rested against a steel support beam, blood and barely moving. His gauntlet forearm enclosed over the seeping dagger wound. Black cape torn and barely attached to his plated shoulders.

His mouth was stained with blood as his dark hazel eyes watched Selina's face betray her shock. He released gulps of faint breath and extended a hand out to her, his stare were dimming behind the silts of the cowl, and after finally absorbing the entire appearance of Batman, she managed, "I thought you were dead?" her dark eyes narrowed.

"Not yet," he roughly replied, wincing in heavy breaths.

"Look if you're expecting a doctor you won't find one down here."

"Thanks for the warning, Miss Kyle." he barred his teeth, feeling strength in his body was slowly draining as he lost his balance and crashed to the floor. The graphite cowl smacked against the concrete. Batman let out heavy pants of breathless frustration.

Selina gingerly knelt down at his side, watching his weary dark eyes squint, and then he wheezed out, "How did you find me, Miss Kyle?"

"I followed the trail of blood you left," she replied with a shadow of a smirk crossing over her red lips.

"I thought," he swallowed, thickly. "You left Gotham with the Clean Slate."

She shrugged carelessly, "I haven't finished packing. Besides you owe me something, Mr. Wayne."

"Owe you?" he coughed, his voice was disgruntled and strained, "What?"

"I need an explanation." she replied, lowering herself closer to his armored chest. "And this..."

Her lips captured his chilled upper thin lip while she sucked roughly over his bottom lip at the same time, giving him full lip suction as he closed his eyes and respond to her mouth with a savory kiss. She pulled away and looked deeply into the depths of his dingy hazel eyes.

Batman lifted his soggy gloved hand and placed it gently on her cheek, "You didn't come here by accident," he said, breathless. "You wanted to find me?" he asked, with a curious gravel.

She averted her brown eyes from his tender gaze, "Why would I want to find your ass?" she asked, indignant. "I got what I needed, handsome."

He shook his head mutely, and rubbed his finger over her bottom lip. "No...Not everything you need, Miss Kyle. Not yet."

"How do you know what I need?" she asked, defenses rising.

Batman looked into her coffee colored eyes, before answering, "Because I need it too, Miss Kyle." He framed both of his hands on her paled face, she felt her mask stripping off, heart melting as she closed her eyes briefly and then allowed her lips to play out a bright, red and beautiful smile.

"I guess we're both suckers, Mr. Wayne." She proclaimed, and crashed her lips tenderly over his as he kissed her with everything he had, she allowed him, shivering as she felt the slip of his tongue run over her lip before plunging, hotly inside her mouth.

She wrapped her arms over his broad plated shoulders and tasted the sweet moisture from his mouth seeping down her throat. She wanted this moment to last forever.

When he pulled away to gasp for a breath, he stroked his gloved fingers through her strands of auburn and stared darkly into her eyes.

"Come on, handsome," she said, without any resistance. "Let's get out of here."

"Where will we go?"

She smirked, "Anything we want. No directions. Just us."

He nodded simply, "Sounds like a plan. But I appreciate it, Miss Kyle, if you call me, Bruce." He said, before easing the cowl off his face and revealing his handsome drenched chiseled features. His shadowy, hooded hazel eyes captured the darkness cloaking around them, and messy tendrils were dangling over his brow. He was unbearably gorgeous as she remembered him.

Bruce," she repeated after drinking up his entire appearance. She pressed her lips once again, "You can call me, Selina."

"Fair enough," he replied, and they embraced each other in the darkness for hours.

Neither Selina nor Bruce could predict what was going to happen next.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
  
  


 

 

 

\


	2. Chapter 2

 

Inside the passageway, tarnished amber light reflected off the brick walls. Selina Kyle cautiously checked the tunnel before sauntering forward, her slender figure obscured in the shadows around her. Upon noticing a arched passage her dark eyes gleamed under her mask as a small sly smile appeared on her lips. Her rigid form pressured against the concrete column, she felt her body started getting wetter with stale musty heat in the tunnel, wide strands of her auburn hair stuck in the groves of the brick.

With low breath escaping her lips, dark eyes grow steady and sharp ears listened to the sparks of  electrically  from the active subway track rails, inwardly noting that the trains will be passing by the exact spot.

Her turbulent thoughts became calm and collective when she twisted her head around, and found herself staring  at battered and weaken Dark Knight slowly limping  in the shadows. One of his scalloped forearm's enclosed over the jigsaw plates of his mid-section. Selina instinctively  clenched her jaw in annoyance, her pale features twitched with impatience.  
  
"I understand that you're not a dead man, handsome," when she raised her voice, a edgy hiss pierced through. "If you don't find a way to stop the blood from escaping your body." She narrowed her sharp gaze at the droplets of blood, clear and visible on the cement behind him. "You'll be one soon enough."  
  
"Are you always this empathetic, Miss Kyle?" Batman's deep, gravelly voice bellowed through the narrow crevice of the tunnel. "Or should I consider myself lucky?"

Selina instantly shot him an infuriating glare, "I never claim myself to be empathetic. Only realistic when it comes to bullet holes and knifes."

She brisked coldly, and then curved her scarlet red lips into sly and malevolent grin, before settling her gaze on a long corridor leading to an archway. Her body gingerly swayed her sleek legs, the black protective latex of her suit trapped the tunnel light as she advanced further into the shadows. Selina felt her chest tingle when his penetrating hazel daggers stared right through her curvaceous, lithe frame. She felt a shadow of a prideful smirk cross over her red blades when she melted into a darkness, playing a little game of hide and seek.  
  
"Where are you going?" he growled, sending an icy shiver shooting down the ridges of her spine.

Selina looked over her shoulder, keeping her elegant profile straight, her dark eyes stared him down, as a sleek curtain of her iron-straight dark hair cascaded down her mid-back. "Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark?" she lightly teased, watching his expose jaw set down hard.

She kept herself frozen, waiting for his slender and densely muscled body to invade her space.

Batman circled around her, his fierce hazel embers melting behind the slits of his devilish mask. He stepped closer, as she crossed her arms over her chest, keeping herself guarded as his elusive presence clouded her igneous thought pools. Selina every  muscle of her body constrict and but she never was on edge when she breathed in masculine his scent wafting off his armored body.

Selina's skin sizzled underneath the layers of her neopane cat suit, making her body reach a combustion of  feverish symptoms and off balanced as her eyes fully absorbed the magnificent, modern day warrior standing inches away from her.

Dark cloak draped over his plated shoulders, crossing over the embossed symbol of the bat engraved on his firm chest.

Before in the sewer tunnels, she refused to rake her eyes over his body, but in the clear light intensity beaming over them, she was finding herself trapped in the moment with him.

Her deep red lips suddenly became glossy with unexpected anticipation when he invaded her space, keeping her trapped under his intense stare. His warm breath escaping from his smooth arched lips buffeted over her skin, making her heart pound a rapid pace against her rib cage, and then her body pulse rhythmic beat. His concealed hazel eyes were changeless, smoldering the essence of shadow as he focused on the woman underneath the mask of the Cat.

Batman panted slowly, fighting off the constrictive pressure squeezing and throbbing in his waist, he pressed his gloved hand firmly on the dagger wound. He parted his lips, as she became memorized by the pronounced indents hidden and imbedded in his glistening skin. He wobbled uncomfortably, his legs hesitantly to falter, and he reached out his other gloved hand and stroked it through the locks draped over her shoulder.

"Selina," he wheezed, head stared to sway, as she listened to his boots drag against the cement. He placed his softly on her shoulder, using her for support. His exhausted eyes snapped shut and responded to the stinging rush of sticky, warm blood flow escaping from the gash in his constricting abdomen.

Selina let out a frustrated breath, in quick reaction as she reluctantly watched the blood depart from his body, she tugged at his cape, wrapping it around his torso, to allowed the memory cloth to absorb the blood, instead of making a another mess.

He was breathing heavy against her, making moisture build behind her eyes as his hot breath landed over her exposed skin of her half face mask.

"You need to rest. You're about to fall on your ass," she replied, coiling a arm around his shoulders, but Batman felt his legs finally give out, and he unceremoniously collapsed on the cement, dragging her down with him. Her breasts collided with his armored torso. Then she listened to snarl out a breath. Batman clamped his eyes shut, easing off the trepidation pounding in his skull.

Batman opened his scowling lips and suck in a deep and frustrated breath. He clenched his jaw, and formed his gloved hands into fists as he exhaled violently and then met her dark brown eyes staring back at him with a faint gleam of tenderness of the depth he saw under her mask.

Both of them took a moment, her lips were hovering inches over his , quivering against the starving heat escaping from his lungs. Under the cowl, Bruce became still, taking a momentarily pause to compose himself, forcing his restless body remained frozen underneath her slender frame.  
  
"I guess you'll rest here for the night." Her finger run along delicately the curve of his jaw.  
  
He focused his mind and body on the outcome of surviving the night in the dingy subway tunnels with her. Only did he realize that his graphite forehead was resting upon hers, his pointed nose was digging into her firm cheek.  
  
His lips caressed warmth on hers, as he tentatively kissed her softly, not knowing what to expect from her reaction, but to his surprise she applied the same equal pressure against his. He slitted his eyes close to the sounds of their watery lips slipping and sliding as he moaned down her throat. He felt the soft swells of her lips leave liquid fire against his vulnerable skin as she felt his strong pulse steady against her cheek. Selina arched herself up, her gloved hands grasped both sides of the cowl, and she lifted off slowly, avoiding any pressure against his feverish skin.  
  
She gently placed the mask down beside her heel, and brushed the sweaty curls off his brow. His skin was a livid and jagged features lazed with fatigue color but his hooded eyes were clear embers of flawless molten hazel. His stare was unbreakable.

Her hand gently roamed down his hip, pressing as he winced at the eclipsing pain of penetrated muscle. She fully stretched her body over his frame, curling into a embrace as her head found a cozy resting spot on his shoulder. Bruce savored the feel of her body weight against his, a soothing and kindling heat. Indescribable.

Bruce turned his head, burying his nose into the mass of her hair, breathing in her scent. Selina ran her finger under his eye, tracing over the clustered scar grazed on the skin. The stillness of their bodies didn't last long, Bruce covered her lips with a hard, needy and moist kiss, taking her breath away.  
  
When he slowly broke away, he felt the cool drops of water from the cracks on the ceiling wall against his balmy lips. He turned his head away, and settling a dimming gaze on her face. His finger slipped under her mask, but she pushed it back and stroked her hand over his sweaty locks. She watched him drift for slumber.  
  
They didn't say anything. They just breathed.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Distant blares of docking in cargo freighters echoed throughout the empty streets of Gotham, Commissioner Jim Gordon found personal refuge away from the nonstop chaos of incoming reports of the missing Arkham inmates that Bane released during his occupation.

He stood in silence in the shadows of the MCU's rooftop. His weary blue eyes never leaving the the cold waters of Gotham Bay.  Light from an old oil lantern cast over his deary and aging features.

The thick lens of his glasses captured the comforting glow as he tucked his gloved hand in the pockets of his tattered overcoat buffeting against the chills of the updrafts between the buildings. Gordon tucked the collar of his coat against the expose skin of his neck and shifted his eyes to the rusted bolted down searchlight inches from the ledge of the roof. His gaze settled in the bent symbol of the bat as his chilled lips parted and he let out a somber breath.

Gordon felt warm tears build in his eyes as he set his jaw down hard and watched the snow dust over the shattered lens of the bat signal. The cracks of glass that he made when he reluctantly hammed the axe in the rain a day after Harvey Dent died on the ashes of Rachel Dawe's mortal existence.

He remembered feeling the his finger grip over the handle of the axe, the heavy downpour drenching his body and created drops on his glasses as he took a deep breath and smashed the glass with direct force. He listened to the cheers of his fellow officers and law officials clapping their hands as shards of glass drop on the roof and finally the beckon of light faded as the symbol of the bat was destroyed by his hands. His faith.

 "Sometimes faith is reward when light breaks through the darkness," Gordon muttered under a despairing breath. He rubbed a single gloved finger on the rusted edges of the searchlight. He suddenly felt a new rise of hope burn deep inside his chest as he lifted his chin to the darkening sky. "Sometimes light comes from the dawn."

Heart beating at a steady pace, Gordon turned his gaze to the shadows and imagined his friend and loyal alliance, the Batman standing there, motionless in a ghostly presence with those piercing hazel embers burning with determination, purpose and assurance behind the menacing cowl.

It was short time ago when Jim Gordon realized those eyes surrounded by darkness and hidden from the world were the very same haunted and soulful hazel eyes of the little eight year old boy he comforted by placing the opera jacket of the compassionate doctor, Thomas Wayne. He looked into the harden eyes of Bruce Wayne with a fatherly gaze of blue and a gentle touch of his hand on the boy's tear stained cheek and he told that the world did not end that night.

The sound of the stairwell door hitting the wall, broke Gordon out of his thoughts as he stared at a GCPD uniform officer standing in the light of the doorway with a stern look etched across his smooth features. "Sir," The young man approached Gordon tentatively. "I didn't want to disturb  you up there, someone is here to you." Gordon roved glanced at the dark haired officer with weariness in his gaze.

"Who would that be, son?"

"A old man says he's a friend of deceased billionaire, Bruce Wayne." the officer stated  with a faltering East Gotham burr in his voice looking at the shroud of grief hanging over the Commissioner's shoulders. He turned his head and listened to silent footfalls echoing against the cement steps. "He's coming  to see you, sir."  

Alfred Pennyworth slowly walked pass the officer, his hands were tucked in the pockets of his long coat, his tall figure obscured in the shadows. Upon noticing the bat signal near the ledge his blue eyes gleamed as fresh tears appeared on his wrinkled cheeks. His slouched form remained motionless against the door, he felt his legs wobble, white strands of his receding hair twirled in the wind his head lowered.

_I should have stayed_...he thought wildly. He left for London after revealing the truth to Bruce of burning Rachel's letter. Allowing the truth of her words to become buried in the ashes that he simply brushed away just the like the tears filling in his eyes. _I should have never told him about the letter._

"Is it true, " the English man begun, sniffling. "You haven't recovered the body?"

Gordon nodded, grimly. "The blast left nothing to recover, Mr. Pennyworth." He narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Alfred grimaced, his heart clenching. "Did you see him before..." he paused in mid-sentence and choked up the rest of the words. "he died?"

Without giving anymore thought Gordon walked to the older man and closed the distance between them. He looked at the weathered features and saw regret etched in each wrinkle. "I was there when he took off with the bomb. He told me who he really was underneath the mask. Bruce Wayne."

Alfred clamped his tear-filled blue eyes shut, and shook his shoulders as he began to cry. "I wish I could've said my last goodbyes to him. Master Wayne was all the family I had and my good friend." He reopened his eyes and settled a teary gaze over Gotham Bay. "I never wanted him to come back to this city. I wanted him to live. Beyond all of this."

"Bruce Wayne lived to see the dawn, Mr. Pennyworth." Gordon placed a firm hand on Alfred's shoulder. "He lived for Gotham." "Yes," Alfred nodded through his tears. He reached out a shaky hand and rested it on Gordon's shoulder. "Master Wayne did live for the people of Gotham and for us."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As the candlelight softened the atmosphere of the restaurant , Bruce settled his darken gaze of piercing hazel on her beautiful face. Rachel was sitting across from him, her petite body covered in scarlet and chestnut locks flowing over her cheeks. His childhood friend had become radiant, tender blue eyes sparkling with warm and delicate lips curving into a small smile but the smile never last long on her face, it soon became shadowed by a somber frown as she settled a concern look on his face. Almost as if she was condemning him to fault.

"When will you going to finally allow this life to end, Bruce."  Rachel said placing her glass of the wine down. "Everything you've done for the city has been luck. Nothing else." She narrowed her eyes,drawing out a breath. "You can't keep on living like this, having Alfred clean your wounds that you hide underneath you fancy suits. I can't watch you waste this life away because you want to prove that you have power over the criminals." She shook her head. "Your parents would have not wanted this for you, why keep on putting the mask? _"  
_

__

Bruce suddenly adopted a silent ambiance, his hooded eyes dropped under the shadow veiling over his smooth cut-stone features, and edges of his lips slack into a sullen frown. He cleared his throat, meeting her gaze. "I'm doing  this because no one else can, Rachel." he spoke in answer, eyes gleaming with hollow warmth. "I put on the mask for you and Alfred. I'm protecting you."

Rachel shook her head sadly, "No, Bruce. You're doing this because it takes away the pain of losing your parents." She watched him grimace at her honest words,  slowly reached out her head and brushed her fingers over his knuckles. "We're all proud of you, but I can't face the day when you buried next to your parents. i know losing you would destroy Alfred as it would me."

"I can't stop being Batman, Rachel. Not when crime is on the arise and Arkham isn't filled with the loose inmates." He replied, looking at her elegant hand, closing his eyes and feeling the warmth of her enter his veins. "There is a war happening in the city. Escalation and drug deals with the mob. I have to stop it before more good people get killed. I can't turn my back on the promise I made."  He leaned in forward, gently placing his hand on her cheek. "I need you to understand."

"I always support you, Bruce." Rachel answered softly, feeling her heart clench. "I can't watch my best friend die because of his pride."

Bruce pulled back, his face became  a cast obscured shadow, revealing the essence of the bat in depth of his stare.  He thinned his lips trying to find the right words to say to her but instead he simply locked his eyes over her knowing that she was trying to push him away. He parted his smooth lips and  spoke, in a low and disgruntled tone as he looked steady in her eyes. "Rachel, when you said that if I stopped being Batman, we'll be together." His eyes gleamed with sincerity. "Was that the truth or just another reason to push me away?''

 

She looked at the desperation etched in the lines of his face. "I meant what I said to you," she caressed her fingers lightly over his chiseled jaw. "I feel that your mask...Batman is pushing everyone away."

"No," his voice was heated, "I won't let that happen, Rachel."

She shook her head. "I never want you to leave Gotham. When you came back the man I loved  died in the ashes of the League of Shadows."She bit her lip. "You say that Batman isn't controlling your life, Bruce, but look at yourself now, every night you crave for darkness. You may think that everything is going to fine, you'll have power over the criminals but we both know that if you don't let Batman go...you'll die."

__

"How can you say these things, Rachel?" he asked, brow pulled a scowl. "I've risked my life saving you.. and the people of Gotham."

"And who will be there to save you?" she added, grimly.  "it won't be me or Alfred. "

Bruce squeezed his eyes shut, feeling harrowing coldness erupt in his veins. "I don't expect someone to save me."

Rachel brushed a soft kiss on his chiseled face, "Someone will, Bruce."

**X0X0**

Bruce felt the stale tunnel heat glaze over his lips. He turned his head slowly, squinting his eyes from the amber light shining over his laxed form. Soft caresses of leather hands brushed the drenched strands of hair off his brow. He blinked his the haze out of his eyes and stared into depth of piercing coffee. Water from the cracked pipes trickled over his lips, he swiped his tongue over his bottom lip and swallowed the relishing  droplets soothing down his raw throat.

His hand lifted as he grasped the auburn strands flowing over her shoulders. Pure silk against his heated touch.

"Selina," he whispered with dryness in his voice. "How long was I out?"

She slid her gloved hand down her hip, opened a compartment of her belt and took out a Rolex watch she stole from the Congressman, a satisfied grin appeared on her scarlet lips. She lifted the watch to her eyes and stared at the time, "Roughly two hours." she narrowed her eyes to his seeping wound, and drawled. "Judging by the intake of blood pouring out of you, I guessing you'll have another cat nap."

He blinked slowly, watery eyes focusing on the smudges of grime on the chamber's ceiling. "We need to move out here."

"That's easier said and done, genius." she returned with a sly gleam in her eyes. " You're in no position to sulk in the tunnels. Not with your wounds making a mess. If you want to rebuild you strength, we need to stay hidden and away from the eyes of the city."

Selina moved away from his still form, she lowered herself into a agile stance, boots perfectly apart and curves of suit aligned with the darkness.  Under the mask, she  rolled her eyes over the enclosed area, he watched with a fixated stare her full, red lips part for a breath.

 "There is no sense showing off, Miss Kyle," he felt the edges of his mouth curve into snug smirk. Selina dropped her gaze on him, sharp daggers of coffee that burn as iron ore. "Unless you planning on stealing from rats." He said with a gravelly voice.

"Why steal from a rat when I've got a bat in my in claws, handsome." She shot him a savage glare, moving gracefully over to him, her gloved finger traced over his bruised jaw, her eyes locked on his soft lips. Her mouth craved for his kiss, thoughts gripped her senses as she hovered warmth over his clammy skin.

The heat of her lips became unbearable, Bruce continued to stare at her, unblinking.  " Well, bats and cats are natural enemies.''

Selina's mouth twitched,  "Your point?"

His chiseled jaw flexed and she regarded him with a harden stare, "Why do you still trust me, Bruce?" she asked, urging for him to unveil the answer. "I did terrible things to you. Unforgivable and inhumane. If you have any sense you would be far away from me by now." She narrowed her eyes at his armored mid-section and pressed her palm over the wound. "My weakness caused you to endure all that pain."

"I know how to handle pain," he growled, defiance burning in the depth of his eyes. "I've endured it all my life."

"You should just condemn for my sins, Mr. Wayne." she lifted her hand, looking at the stains of blood, his blood on leather. "Everyone else does." Selina revealed, a somber cast of shadow etched on her pale cheeks. She tried to pull away from his intense stare, but he kept her grounded. She yielded her arms, from his secured grasp. "No, you're a good man. I don't deserve this from you. I don't deserve anything."

"Even if it's something from an eccentric billionaire?" Bruce said, his brow ached,  and the corners of his mouth curved into a heart-stopping smile.  "That dresses up like bat because he clearly has a lot issues."

Selina smirked, recalling a memory of finding a newspaper article from the Gotham Times in a litter infested alley , on a crinkled page dampened by water she saw a black and white image of the young damper Bruce Wayne dressed in a elegant fitting tux with a mask of darkness etched over his youthful and commanding features. She remembered intently staring into the elusive eyes of the billionaire prince, the boy who had everything in his castle.

His hooded eyes were focused on the darkness around , as if he was searching for something beyond his piercing stare.

 She never realized the truth etched on the fragile organ in her chest, until she felt his warm mouth depart from hers that moment when he took off with the bomb. She was falling in love with the man under the mask, the man that she unlocked in the depth of molten hazel and remorseful shadow.

 

To her disobedient soul, Selina refused to believe in such realistic truth that broke the chains holding the padlock of her heart made of glass. Cracked, scattered and used.

_I can't surrender myself to him,_ she thought, feeling his shaky fingers brush over her tight knuckles. It was the same gentle touch of his hand that she felt when they danced in the warm light of the masquerade charity ball. She kept herself guarded, trying to escape but the darkness underneath his charismatic semblance kept her locked in his steady gaze. The soften touch of his hand on her bare skin, healed the invisible scars of the past.

_No other man could do that._

_All the other men she danced with left their own scars on her, Bruce took each mark, regret and lie away._

"You're not the only one with issues,"  She ran her finger over his embossed bat insignia.  Bruce's eyes left her hand as he lifted his head off the dusty cement ground and trailed his hand up her arm. Selina gave him an agitated glint in her eyes. "I put this mask," she swallowed a hard lump down her throat before continuing, "because it hides everything I've experienced through surviving on the streets and watching friends be killed because mistakes I've made." she gritted her teeth so hard, Bruce saw the indents of her jaw line. "I've lost everything that girl can lose."

"No you haven't, Selina." Bruce rasped out a deep breath, he looked deeply into her dark eyes as he allowed sincerity to reach his when he spoke. "You found something in the darkness...something that can't be lost by bullets or regrets." He caressed a touch over her cheek, fingers curled under the strap of her mask. Selina grasped his wrist with a firm grip at first, and then she lowered her head and allowed him to unmask her. The real her.

"What did I find?" she asked, her words faltering . Her hand enveloped over his cold fingers, as the mask lifted up against her brow, and the goggles fell gracefully to the floor.

 

Bruce gently brushed the strands off her face, and looked into coffee orbs highlighted by darkness. He lowered his hand slightly down her cheek and rubbed his finger over her upper lip. She was beautiful, her lips faded into a pale rose and those big brown eyes soften by acceptance  and held promise. He knew she'll keep his secrets.

The darkness hour when all his friends and hope will be diminished, she'll be standing right there with him.

_Mask or no mask._

 "This," he finally answered, pulling her into a embrace, allowing the soft swells of her breasts to rub against his armored chest, his forehead scalloped tangled in her hair and he closed his eyes, tilted his head to one side, apply heat of his breath against her skin. Selina closed her eyes, lips hesitated over the savory moisture of his welcoming mouth, and she placed her hands on his face, and tilted her against his sharp cheek  and both of their lips hotly pressed with softness at first and then as he tasted her inside his mouth, he crushed her strands of hair in fist and deepened the kiss with a need,  hunger and desire.

The kissed was savored in their mouths, slow and passionately their explored, tasted and sizzled. When Bruce broke away to regather air in his lungs, Selina rested her face on his shoulder, and became still with only breath ghosting over his neck.

As she curled against his battered form, Bruce closed his eyes to her warm exhale and whispered, "We both found something, Selina Kyle."

Selina lifted her head and simply touched his lips with a gentle and quick kiss,  answered him with a voice laced with endearment,  "It will be our little secret, Bruce Wayne."

He smiled, covering her lips tentatively, and spoke from his heart. "I'll hold you to that, Miss Kyle."


	5. Chapter 5

 

 

**Chapter 5**

The stale heat created the effects of haze down the narrow tunnel; faint amber lights hung on scorched wire against the brick walls--alert and aware of her unfriendly surroundings, Selina clicked her serrated knife-like stilettoes with methodical strides against the rusted metal rails, avoiding the high volts sparking over cement. Her molten dark coffee orbs, acutely scanned over the dingy, musty shadows as she sunk her lithe body  into the mixtures of darkness, gingerly avoiding any unknown disturbances  hiding in the obscure corners.

Silently, with the movement like a sleek panther on the prowl; she swayed her curves against the slant of light caressing over her black neoprene stealth suit. Her movements for efficient and daunting as she shifted her darkened gaze to enclosed area--lifting her chin up and staring with a savage gleam in her eyes as pieces of grimy debris slowly fall into her shiny mahogany locks. Parting her blood-like lips, she drew out a breath of heated frustration. 

"Okay, Lina," she chided to herself in a low, collective whisper. "Get a grip girl, you're adaptable to any surrounding." She slammed her eyelids, shut, fighting against the tension pounding in the back of her skull and clenched her sharp jaw hard. "You're adaptable." She reminded herself, as she drifted further into the darkness--her natural element.

She pressed her rigid posture against a steel support beam--sucking in the unpleasant air as she coughed lightly, feeling her lungs of dust and lowered her goggles down, adjusting over her dark eyes. Her head narrowed as she tuned her ears to the echoes of traffic above, pinpointing the exact her location with the invisible lines of her mental map of Midtown Gotham. She became stoic to movement until the encroaching sounds of boots crashing over shards of broken glass lulled her senses to react fiercely to the intruder of her space. In a heartbeat, she spun on her heels, removing a stealth spike from her belt and glared intently at the traces of movement. Her muscles coiled with anticipation;  blood pulsed with searing heat as she withdrew a step back and prepared her athletic build to strike at her  prey.

"Well, come on," she purred out a taunting voice laced with spite. "Don't be shy--"

"It's just me, Selina." A deep, raspy baritone wafted in the shadows. She whipped her head around at the sound of Batman's chilling voice and met a pair of hazel eyes in the darkness shrouding over her narrow frame. With a light grunt of effort the wounded, menacing vigilante leaned his battered form against the wall--exhaling out a couple of heaving breaths. "If it's not any trouble," he dejected with a shaky voice. His smooth lips alerted into a straight line. "I think we need to rest again." He choked out, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"Well," she replied, a brisk in her voice, curving her red lips into a false sulky frown. She lifted her goggles back up, easing the lens over her straight iron strands. "I thought the Dark Knight never rested on his missions. Why the sudden change, handsome?"

"The fact that I'm bleeding all over doesn't surprise you, Ms. Kyle?" He shot back, his voice dark and gravelly.

Selina shrugged with in casual, calucating demeanor, "I'm used to seeing a lot of blood make a mess." She answered, with a murderous glint sparking in her brown eyes, she glared up at him, darkly. "Especially when I'm the one that made it happen, Mr. Wayne..." her thoughts drifted as she raked her eyes over the large gash in his side--maroon seeped out and left splatters on his boot. "We need to get moving faster if you want to live another day, handsome."

"I'm sorry." He gritted, clenching his teeth as a breath seethed from his throat. "Unless you want to see me fall flat on my face a dozen times... I'm staying right there until I feel stable to stand on my own two feet."

She stiffened her lips into a rueful smirk, "Let me guess," she drawled with a harsh breath. " You're always this stubborn?"

"Yes. You can call it a certain trait of mine." he took a deep breath, pressing his scallop forearm over his throbbing side, "We're not going anymore until the blood flow pouring out of my body finally stops." He pressed his shaky glove hand against the wall, using it for support of his weight. "Why are you so eager to get back to the streets?" he questioned with intent hazel-green orbs mirroring her still dark eyes. "I thought cats like the darkness?"

"Only if the cat isn't immune to it for so long," she spoke with a bite in her voice. "I know this city like the back of my hand. Walked the streets and seen a lot of ugliness in unclean places people like you dare themselves to enter... I've learned the ropes and made deals with the devils." She narrowed her eyes down to her heels. "I've hurt a lot of people along the way," she revealed with conviction ragging up her throat. She snapped her head back up--shooting him a feral glare of molten coffee as her lips curved into a threatening scowl. "I will continue on hurting people because that's my nature. You can't change a damn thing about it."

"You're allowing your past to get the best of you," Batman growled, his thin-straight lips curved into a fierce scowl-laugh lines etched against the corners of his mouth, revealing his inward aggression. He looked directly at her, crescents of light became entrapped in the depth of fiery hazel concealed by darkness--burning through the murky layers of her graying soul--making her feel uneasy on her heels. "I've hurt a lot of good people" He paused in his words, feeling a clog of anguish tug against his heart strings--"I have regrets, but allow them to consume my mission, Ms. Kyle."

He lowered his head, panting as his skin grew feverish under the graphite cowl. "I know you made a lot of mistakes... Some of them you think are unforgivable--but's that the logic of human error. We have the power to control our own lives and chose who we want to become in this journey--"

"I'm beyond saving, Bruce." She cut him off, crossing her trim arms protectively over her chest. "I know you think that I can become a good girl, but the truth is, Mr. Wayne, I have enough red on my ledger that can send me to Hell." She stopped, actually surprised at how much he became invested in her motives. She advanced closer to him, feeling the heat emit off his Kevlar armor as she inhaled the scent of his sweaty body--making her heart pound wildly in her chest. 'You can pretend that my past doesn't exist and try to find a reasonable alliterative to give me back the life that was stolen from me, but I will never become a good girl-- normalcy will be a killer for me."

She stepped into the faint of light, allowing him to see her ivory skin glow with warmth, dark eyes burned with concealed regrets behind the domino mask and lithe, curvy body garbed in black read off the churning faiures rippling in her veins. "I kissed you because I wanted to give you everything that I had left in my human existence." She shook her head, "I will admit I enjoyed every moment--let's just keep it right there-- nothing else."

He staggered closer, invading her space, his darkened orbs severely focused on her, "I don't want to leave it there, Selina." He spoke with the true voice of the man behind the Bat--Bruce Wayne. A wry smirk graced over his lips, as he drew out a heavy pant of breath, reaching out his hand over her tensed shoulder. His hazel eyes had grown into illusions of flaming embers and enticing hunger as he placed his hand on the side of her face. "I want to help you clean up your past\--Not just with the Clean Slate program, but with something else... Something you need."

"You don't know what I want, Bruce." She growled back, defenses building up under her skin. She wrenched her eyes, avoiding the unfamiliar security gleaming in his warm eyes. "I handle everything.....On my own."

"I'm afraid I allow you to do, Selina Kyle," He replied, easing the cowl of his face--throwing the mask on the ground, listening to the graphite crack. He boldly stepped closer, colliding his armored chest with her ample breasts--crunching the strands of her rich brown cascades into a fist, pulling her head back as he covered her mouth with a deep, hard and impassionating kiss which sent chills down her spine. His temperature rose in his blood, increasing as he tasted her tongue stroking against his--feeling her watery lips move under his mouth as he fought against her dominance.

Her leather gloved fingers tugged his drenched strands of chestnut as he explored deeper inside her mouth. Their breathing grew erratic  and skin became scorched with intimate heat escaping from their veins. She closed her eyes, feeling her breath fading in her lungs, she clenched her hand around his thick neck--feeling the rapid pulse of his jugular against her palm. She snapped her eyes open, blinking away the crimson haze as she looked at Bruce--he was a gorgeous, sweaty mess of a man, razor-edge cheeks flushed with rose and lips swollen with strains of blood at the corners. His hair was slick back off his forehead. He looked almost five years younger --he was a real treasure for a thief to steal.

Bruce pulled away; he traced the curve of her jaw with his finger, "You saved my life," He said, with a warm breath dancing over her pale skin, framing her face with both of his hands. " Now I'm going to save yours, Selina Kyle." He whispered against the plump arch of her lips.

She stepped a few inches back, looking darkly into his bright hazel eyes. "Let's put our focus on getting out of this place first and then we'll decide where to go next."

"Sounds good." He nodded with a charming smirk playing over his lips. He leaned in lean and crushed a moist kiss on her mouth--pulling away with a confident and a trusting gleam in his eyes, "Lead the away, Selina Kyle."

She smirked, "Well, If that's what you want, Mr. Wayne," She purred, turning on her heels. "Follow me." He smiled, picking up his mask---and trailed behind her as both of them vanished into the darkness like two phantoms.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Through the haze of muted tunnel light, Selina pushed herself against the darkness. Her muscles rippled with exhaustion underneath the layers of neoprene, although she tried to ignore it, the numbness of pain growing in her veins grew to annoyingly persistent. Clenching her jaw tightly, she clicked her serrated heels over the rail tracks, cautiously avoiding the high voltage metal, and sauntered with brisk educated movement towards a cement column.  She climbed over the smooth cement surface with elegance of feline grace pumping through her lithe frame. She needed a break from those piercing greenish-hazel eyes of his, that searing gaze that buried into her skull, and her made feel condemned with her dark sins. There were no sounds of muffling breaths, or boots dragging tirelessly on the ground, there were just silent echoes of the restless city above her.

Sitting in the division if light and darkness, Selina pressed her throbbing shoulder blades the rusted drainage pole behind her, and kept her daunting, luminous coffee colored eyes steady, and focused on the encroaching shadows caressing over her exposed ivory skin. She was patient, her full, blood shaded lips fastened into a neutral, and unreadable expression, and her long, sleek legs crossed as the absence of light gleamed over her knife-edged heels. The tunnel had been utterly quiet at this time of the night, droning sounds of subway cars vibrated through the cracks of the grime encased walls, the musty stench of stale water wavering in the air, blocking out the other smells with a dense potency of filth.  Her nose slightly crinkled when the heavy smell of blood, sweat and desperation invaded her nostrils. It was strong, and made her empty stomach knot with knots of unsettling acid, but she refused to allow starvation to consume her thoughts. She didn't want to acknowledge the details of her situation, but it was pretty unnerving not too, especially when his looming and dark shadow trailed over her.

Breathing out a sharp breath, feeling warm air ghost over her lips, Selina dared herself to look at him. She clamped her teeth, lowered her eyes to the level of her boots, took a moment to recollect her torrent thoughts, and craned her neck ever so slowly to meet his intense, pensive stare of molten fire burning underneath the darkness of his cowl. His dark Kevlar plated armor absorbed all the darkness around him, his firm irises were hazel embers in the deep blackness of hollow, jagged mask--the devilish face of a bat.

Undaunted, Selina kept herself still, watching him circle around the column with his long black cape draped over his broad shoulders. Her eyes from his face to his chest, she never really focused on the details of his body, she never cared to glimpse at the perfection of resilience, determination, aggression and fear --no man ever looked so intimating--dark grey plating with an engraved bat symbol, a jigsaw of plates concealing his rippling muscles of his graven abdomen, and a golden belt that hung snug over his slender hips. He was a cross between a blissful dream and a vivid nightmare. Thankfully, his vision was too bleary from the pain saturating throughout his body to notice her lips curve into an impressed smirk. "I thought you want me to follow you, Selina?" he growled, his voice strained and rough.

"A girl needs her space." she said with a velvet purr rolling off the tip of her tongue. She latched her dark eyes over the oozing splotch on his right side. "Plus you’re making a very unclean mess with all that blood leaking out of you. I didn't want my suit to get full of stains. Blood is very hard to wash out."

"Thanks for your honestly," Bruce shot back tersely, and then he encompassed his gloved hand over the wound. «How much further do we have to walk before we reach exit stairwell? I could triangulate our exact location, but the GPS device I used from the BAT got damaged in the water. Until I get my bearings, you're leading us out of here." He stood closer, making her blanch slightly back, as he invaded her space with a hardened glare, and he extended over his hand, clasping his blood drenched fingers over her thin wrist, and pulling her close enough for her to feel the hot breath escaping from his thin-straight lips ghost over her jaw. "If you try to walk away...I'll find you, Selina."

Selina yanked her wrist back, and stiffened her lips. Her eyes darkened at his words. "After all those moments we've had Bruce, you still don't trust me." she said with irritation laced in her low voice. "I'm not going to walk away from you. Sometimes I like to have my space---it helps me think clearly just in case I made a mistake and lead us into unfriendly danger." She leveled her brown eyes with his masked hazel chasms, and then stroked her finger over the corner of his soft mouth.

"Sometimes it's best for us to trust ourselves...because I think you might be in the wrong business with me, Wayne." she warned, and felt a swell of remorse expand in her narrow chest. She hoped those words somehow reached him in those long moment of silence between them. She had too many demons hunting her down, too much blood on her ledger that could never be wiped away, and she was a skilled killer with dark motives that revered her as a devil. Her world has always been white and black, and she was entrapped in the murky shades of grey. She expected that truth, and lived her life through the risks of crossfire, stealing, and filling a few unmarked graves. Freedom to her, was a deceptive thread of a weaved web of impermanence. She was prepared to cut each thread, and stab her knife into the spindling spiders--her demons.

"If I didn't trust you, Selina. I would have never given you a chance of freedom." he reminded her, his dark eyes never changed, he just stayed focused on her masked face. "An escape out of Gotham. That's what you wanted, right? To strip away your past mistakes and start fresh with a new identity that won't be compromised, and a new life that won't be full of shame." he digressed, his voice cut through her traitorous heart like a wielding knife polished with venom. His words scorched her from the inside, making the cold ice encased over her guarded heart dissolve. He tried to peer through her mask, but she was a master of a hiding her true emotions and only allowed him to see pieces of gray of her whirling soul.

She shook her head, "I never asked for a chance of freedom. I just want a new life." she revealed in a soft breath, her voice was cracking against her throat. "I live my life under the gun and I wait for death to pull the trigger, that's how it goes for me, handsome." she paused in a breath, darting her brown eyes to the shadows. "I'm using the Clean Slate to erase the mistakes on database files. Yes, I will have a new identity for the world to know, but I will always be the woman you see before you under the mask. Nothing, no program can rake off  my true existence." 

 

 


End file.
